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Home > Books > Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma - Behind the Mask

Lean Six Sigma in Manufacturing: A Comprehensive Review

Submitted: 15 February 2019 Reviewed: 23 September 2019 Published: 13 February 2020

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.89859

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Lean Six Sigma is a systematic approach to reduce or eliminate activities that do not add value to the process. It highlights removing wasteful steps in a process and taking the only value added steps. The lean six sigma method ensures high quality and customer satisfaction in the manufacturing. The main purpose of this chapter is to explore the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the manufacturing sector. This chapter focuses on the different critical aspects of LSS. The core sections of this chapter are Introduction; Key lean six sigma principles; Tools and techniques; Lean six sigma methodologies; Critical success factors; Lean six sigma framework; Lean six sigma strategy; Implementation of Lean Six Sigma in SMEs; significant benefits; Significant barriers to implement lean; Assessment of Lean Six Sigma Readiness; Emerging trends in Lean Six Sigma; and Successful examples/stories in the manufacturing industry. The final section of the chapter contains the conclusions and suggestions. It is important for practitioners to be aware of Lean six sigma benefits, impeding factors, Tools and techniques, methodologies etc. before starting the Lean six sigma implementation process. Hence, this chapter could provide valuable insights to practitioners. It also gives an opportunity to Lean six sigma researchers to understand some common themes within this chapter in depth.

• lean six sigma (LSS)
• manufacturing
• comprehensive review
• methodologies
• success factors
• lean six sigma examples

Author Information

Hari lal bhaskar *.

• Gaur Hari Singhania Institute of Management and Research, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

In recent years, Lean Six Sigma have become the most popular business strategies for deploying continuous improvement [ 1 ] in manufacturing sectors, as well as in the public sector. Continuous improvement is the main aim for any organization in the world to help them to achieve quality and operational excellence and to enhance performance [ 2 , 3 ].

It has changed manufacturing forever and from every aspect of the industry: from the people and the machinery to the logistics and administration. According to SAIL engineer Srivastva, “Machines mean nothing; if they are not efficient and calibrated—this is where the Six Sigma Methodology and the Machine Industry marry their goals for the betterment of the business industry”.

There is a misconception that Lean and Lean Six Sigma methodologies are only applicable to manufacturing or supply chain processes [ 4 , 5 ]. However, these tools can be used within all aspects of a business [ 6 ]. The essential foundation needed for Lean and Lean Six Sigma methods succeed within all areas of a company is the capability to recognize waste, decrease the waste, and forcefully attempt to eliminate all activities that do not add value or increase customer satisfaction both within the company and outside.

These methods are not a new phenomenon. In fact, the Lean methodology has been an effective tool since the dawn of the industrial age [ 7 , 8 ]. The idea of improving performance and meeting the expectations of customers while still improving the bottom line has always been the goal of businesses [ 9 ]. The evolution of Lean and Lean Six Sigma is based on understanding what methods or mixture of methods should be used to ensure the biggest impact to the business. The Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) foundation is the base for our Lean training and service programs [ 10 , 11 ].

Six Sigma basics are designed to improve manufacturing [ 12 , 13 ]. This is a type of quality control that was originally developed for large scale manufacturers. It was intended to enhance processes and eliminate the amount of defects found within them. The Lean method is a philosophy centered around eliminating waste and providing the best customer experience [ 14 ]. According to the Lean manufacturing subject matter expert, there are eight kinds of waste: defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, transportation, inventory, motion, and extra processing.

Researchers believe that it is very important to conduct a comprehensive review in manufacturing field to understand the each aspect of Lean Six Sigma. Research on “Lean Six Sigma in manufacturing” is limited and state that no standard work done for such a combination exists.

Hence, the aim of this chapter is to address such gaps within Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and manufacturing that allow them to achieve the most benefits from this strategy, as well as to identify the gaps and give recommendations for future research. To achieve the overall aims of this chapter, the author has comprehensively reviewed the literatures in second section.

2. Comprehensive review

2.1 lean and six sigma.

The concept of lean thinking can be traced to the Toyota production system (TPS), a manufacturing philosophy pioneered by the Japanese engineers Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo [ 15 , 16 ]. The development of this approach to manufacturing began shortly after the Second World War while employed by the Toyota motor company [ 17 ]. Lean manufacturing extends the scope of the Toyota production philosophy [ 18 ] by providing an enterprise-wide term that draws together the five elements of “the product development process, the supplier management process, the customer management process, and the policy focusing process for the whole enterprise” [ 17 ]. Lean Six Sigma has been defined as “a business improvement methodology that aims to maximize shareholders’ value by improving quality, speed, customer satisfaction, and costs: it achieves this by merging tools and principles from both Lean and Six Sigma” [ 19 ]. Gershon and Rajashekharaiah [ 20 ] point out that “leading texts fail to define Lean Six Sigma as a unique methodology”.

Laureani and Antony [ 21 ] stated that “Lean Six Sigma uses tools from both toolboxes in order to get the best from the two methodologies, increasing speed while also increasing accuracy”. Both Lean and Six Sigma require a company to focus on its products and customers [ 19 ]. According to Stoiljković et al. [ 22 ], the concepts of lean and six sigma are intertwined in that Lean speed enables Six Sigma quality and Six Sigma quality enables Lean speed. Pepper and Spedding [ 17 ] and Ferng and Price [ 23 ] similarly identify that Lean thinking may be used to identify areas of improvement and set standards, while the Six Sigma methodology may be used for targeting them and for investigating deviations from said standards. The foundation of the lean vision is still a focus on the individual product and its value stream (identifying value-added and non-value added activities), and the main target of lean thinking is to eliminate all waste, or muda, in all areas and functions within the system [ 16 , 17 ].

Removing “Waste” from a process: Waste is any activity within a process that is not required to manufacture a product or provide a service that is up to specification [ 36 , 37 ].

Solving problems caused by a process: Problems are defects in a product or service that cost your organization money [ 36 , 37 ] ( Figure 1 ).

Lean, six sigma and lean six sigma. Source: [ 27 ].

2.2 Integrating lean and six sigma

Lean and Six Sigma are the two most important continuous improvement (CI) methodologies for achieving operational and service excellence in any organization [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. LSS is the fusion of two most powerful process excellence methodologies, namely, Lean and Six Sigma [ 24 ].

According to Sokovic and Pavletic [ 34 ] Lean means speed and quick action (reducing unnecessary wait time) and Six Sigma means identifying defects and eliminating them. As well as Lean Six Sigma Engineering means best-in-class. It creates value in the manufacturing or service organization to benefit its customers and saves money without capital investment [ 34 ].

Six Sigma is a well-established approach that seeks to identify and eliminate defects, mistakes or failures in business processes or systems by focusing on those process performance characteristics that are of critical importance to customers’ [ 35 ]. It is a statistical methodology that aims to reduce variation in any process, reduce costs in manufacturing and services, make savings to the bottom line, increase customer satisfaction, measure defects, improve product quality, and reduce defects to 3.4 parts per million opportunities in an organization [ 35 , 36 ].

The high cost of Six Sigma training is a barrier for many organizations to deploy this methodology [ 37 , 38 ]. In fact, deploying Six Sigma in isolation cannot remove all types of waste from the process, and deploying Lean management in isolation cannot control the process statistically and remove variation from the process [ 35 ]. Therefore, some companies have decided to merge both methodologies to overcome the weaknesses of these two methodologies when they have been implemented in isolation and to come up with more powerful strategy for continuous improvement and optimizing processes [ 35 , 39 , 40 ]. In fact, LSS are completing each other and there is an obvious relation between both methodologies, which makes it possible for the synergy of the two methodologies (see Figures 2 and 3 ). Therefore, the integration of these two approaches gives the organization more efficiency and affectivity and helps to achieve superior performance faster than the implementation of each approach in isolation [ 30 , 35 , 41 ].

Concept of lean six sigma. Source: [ 28 ].

Lean and six sigma popularity and integration. Source: [ 35 ].

Salah et al. [ 30 ] has indicated that the integration of lean and Six Sigma is the solution to overcome the shortcomings of both, as they complete each other. This integration helps companies to achieve zero defects and fast delivery at low cost. According to Bhuiyan and Baghel [ 42 ] the combination of this two is the way for organizations to increase their potential improvement.

Using value stream mapping to develop a pipeline of projects that lend themselves either to applying Six Sigma or Lean tools [ 34 , 43 ].

Teaching Lean principles first to increase momentum, introducing the Six Sigma process later on to tackle the more advanced problems [ 34 , 43 ].

Adjusting the content of the training to the needs of the specific organization—while some manufacturing locations could benefit from implementing the Lean principles with respect to housekeeping, others will have these basics already in place and will be ready for advanced tools [ 34 , 43 ].

The following roadmap provides an example for how one could approach the integration of Lean and Six Sigma into a comprehensive roadmap ( Figure 4 ).

Integrating lean and six sigma roadmap. Source: [ 44 ].

Therefore, many manufacturing firms are looking for an approach that allows to combines both methodologies into an integrated system or improvement roadmap [ 44 , 45 ]. However, the differences between the Six Sigma and Lean are profound ( Table 1 ).

Comparing lean and six sigma.

Source: Prepared by the author.

Duarte [ 46 ] identify that Lean Six Sigma has become a widely recognized process improvement methodology and has been adopted by many companies like Ford, DuPont, 3 M, Dow Chemicals, and Honeywell etc. At present, the methodology of Lean Six Sigma has been carried out in 35% of companies listed in the Forbes top 500 [ 46 ]. He illustrates how Lean tools can be incorporated into the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) cycle ( Figure 5 ).

Integrating lean tools and six sigma DMAIC cycle. Source: [ 46 ].

2.3 Basics of lean six sigma

In the efforts to draw nearer to customers, several manufacturers have lost focus on what ought to be a company’s primary success factor—profitable growth. In today’s competitive manufacturing environment, it takes more than quick fixes, outsourcing and downsizing for firms to systematically achieve their growth and profit objectives [ 47 ]. Whereas these choices could yield temporary financial relief, they will not lead the way to long-term growth and profitability. Therefore, they have to bring lean to grow and continually exceed bottom line expectations; and to bring lean they must master eight basics of Lean Six Sigma for manufacturing.

2.3.1 Software as the solution

In digital and cloud based environment, the physical database is replaced by a virtual database. Data are transferred throughout the cloud computing [ 48 ]. Organizations were led to believe that computerized systems would provide the solution to all growth and profit challenges. Material requirements planning (MRP) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system gurus assured companies that if they implement their software programs at bottom line, would take care of itself. In a typical company, converting the quarterly financial forecast into reality still requires overtime, internal/external expediting, last minute “on-the-run” product changes and even some “smoke and mirrors” from time to time [ 49 ]. Results are scrap, rework and warranty costs that negatively impact profitability and quality, and shipment problems that deliver less than acceptable customer satisfaction [ 47 ]. Companies have spent thousands of dollars in pursuing MRP and ERP only to see growth and profits decline due to uncontrolled operating costs that produced non-competitive pricing [ 39 , 40 ]. Thus, softwares can be a solution for these problems, and eliminate the root causes of ineffective systems and processes.

2.3.2 How to get to root causes

Information integrity: It is common for front office management to become disappointed with computerized systems results when time schedules and promised paybacks are not achieved. It is a given that acceptable systems results cannot be achieved when systems are driven by incorrect data and inappropriate, uncontrolled documentation [ 44 , 47 , 50 ].

Performance management: Measurement systems can be motivational or de-motivational. The individual goal-setting of the 1980s is a good example of de-motivational measurement—it tested one individual or group against the other and while satisfying some individual egos, it provided little contribution to overall company growth and profit. Today, the balanced scorecard is the choice of business winners [ 44 , 47 , 50 ].

Sequential production: It takes more than systems sophistication for manufacturing companies to gain control of factory operations. To achieve on-time shipments at healthy profit margins, companies need to replace obsolete shop scheduling methodology with the simplicity of sequential production [ 51 ]. Manufacturing leaders have replaced their shop order “launch and expedite” methodology with continuous production lines that are supported by real-time, visual material supply chains…sequential production. The assertion that sequential production only works in high production, widget-manufacturing environments is a myth [ 44 , 47 , 50 ].

Point-of-use logistics: Material handling and storage are two of manufacturing’s high cost, non-value-added activities. The elimination of the stock room, as it is known today, should be a strategic objective of all manufacturers. Moving production parts and components from the stockroom to their production point of use is truly a return to basics and a significant cost reducer [ 44 , 47 ].

Cycle time management: Long cycle times are symptoms of poor manufacturing performance and high non-value-added costs [ 44 , 52 ]. Manufacturers need to focus on the continuous reduction of all cycle times. Achieving success requires a specific management style that focuses on root cause, proactive problem solving, rather than “fire-fighting” [ 44 , 47 ].

Production linearity: Companies will never achieve their full profit potential if they produce more than 25% of their monthly shipment plan in the last week of the month or more than 33% of their quarterly shipment plan in the last month of the quarter. How linear does a production department produce to the company’s master schedule? As companies struggle to remain competitive, one of the strategies by which gains in speed, quality and costs can be achieved is to form teams of employees to pursue and achieve linear production [ 44 , 47 ].

Resource planning: One of the major challenges in industry today is the timely right sizing of operations. Profit margins can be eroded by not taking timely downsizing actions, and market windows can be missed and customers lost by not upsizing the direct labor force in a timely manner. These actions demand timely, tough decisions that require accurate, well-timed and reliable resource information [ 44 , 47 ].

Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is the main driver of loyalty. It affects company’s financial performance and perception of the customers [ 53 ]. Perceptions are what a company needs to address when it comes to improving customer satisfaction. It does not good to have the best products and services if the customer’s perception of “as received” quality and service is unsatisfactory. Companies need to plan and implement proactive projects that breakdown the communication barriers that create invalid customer perceptions [ 44 , 47 , 54 , 55 ].

2.4 Key lean six sigma principles

Lean six sigma principles mainly refer to process improvements, although their practical implementation has different impacts according to different organizational models [ 56 ]. Leaders at all levels are working to integrate lean and Six Sigma principles into all business processes, including product design and development, integrated supply chain, marketing and sales, customer service, infrastructure, governance and strategy deployment [ 57 ].

Focus on the customer : Before you start making any drastic or even minor changes, establish the level of quality or requirements that you have promised your customers.

Figure out your value stream : You need to see the current state of your process before you can move forward and make improvements. Identifying value stream is unquestionably what makes Lean Six Sigma principles so effective. A value stream map showcases every single step, including purchasing parts, assembling them (and checking for quality assurance), and distributing the finished product. You must determine which steps add value and which do not.

Take out the trash : Remove any non-value-added activities or opportunities for defects. On value stream map, avoid highlighting areas that are working fluidly. If your value stream map does not clarify exactly where the problem lies, you can use several other diagrams to work through potential root causes of the issue. For example: Cause-and-effect diagrams.

Keep the ball rolling : Workers will keep performing (or not performing) the same tasks until management decides otherwise. The responsibility of business is to communicate the new standards and practices effectively and clearly. Be sure each employee receives training and feedback. Otherwise, why expect the problem to change? Thus, nothing will change until change is enacted.

Create a culture of change and flexibility : Lean Six Sigma requires a lot of change [ 58 ]. You need to welcome change and encourage your employees to accept change as well. As part of this cultural shift, your company should always look for new ways to streamline the process and remove waste. Keep your eye on the data, examine your bottom line, and adjust your processes where necessary.

Specifying value: “Value is only meaningful when expressed in terms of a specific product or service which meets the customer needs at a specific price at a specific time.”

Identify and create value streams: “A Value stream is all the actions currently required to bring a product from raw materials into the arms of the customer.”

Making value flow: “Products should flow through a lean organization at the rate that the customer needs them, without being caught up in inventory or delayed.”

Pull production not push: “Only make as required. Pull the value according to the customer’s demand.”

Striving for perfection: “Perfection does not just mean quality. It means producing exactly what the customer wants, exactly when the customer requires it, at a fair price and with minimum waste.”

Womack et al. [ 60 ] defined the five principles of Lean manufacturing in their book “The Machine That Changed the World”. The five principles are considered a recipe for improving workplace efficiency and include: (1) defining value, (2) mapping the value stream, (3) creating flow, (4) using a pull system, and (5) pursuing perfection. The principles encourage creating better flow in work processes and developing a continuous improvement culture. By practicing all these five principles, an organization can remain competitive, increase the value delivered to the customers, decrease the cost of doing business, and increase their profitability. These Lean principles can be applied to any process to reduce the wastes ( Figure 6 ).

The five lean principles [ 64 ].

2.5 Lean six sigma frameworks and methodologies

Lean six sigma is a systematic data driven methodological philosophy centered around eliminating waste, reducing process variation [ 61 ] and providing the best customer experience [ 45 ]. According to the Lean method, there are eight kinds of waste: defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, transportation, inventory, motion, and extra processing [ 62 ]. Lean six sigma is a structured problem solving methodology [ 63 ]. The lean six sigma framework aim at providing an effective approach to integrating lean and six sigma [ 65 ]. It uses the DMAIC phases similar to that of Six Sigma [ 32 ]. Problem solving in lean Six Sigma is done using the DMAIC framework. It has been implemented and verified at one engineering company in UAE [ 32 ]. The results show that the process “Make-to-Order (MTO) projects” has a long lead-time [ 32 ]. The main causes of the long lead-time are the subcontractors, the customers, and the company-implemented procedures [ 32 ]. Using the framework, it was possible to identify the most significant reason for the long lead-time, analyze the root-cause(s), suggest three relevant solutions and select the most preferred one [ 32 ]. In this methodology framework application, lean-production, six-sigma, balanced scorecard, simulation and cost benefit analysis tools were used.

A study was conducted in India by Ben Ruben et al. [ 61 ] using DMAIC framework methodology and validated practically to provide both operational and environmental benefits. The framework is validated with an industrial case study conducted in an Indian automotive component manufacturing firm/organization located at Tamilnadu. The firm manufactures high precision transmission. On the successful deployment of the framework, the internal defects was brought down to 6000 ppm from 16,000 ppm and environmental impacts was reduced to 33 Pt from 42 Pt. Deployment of the developed framework helped in improving the firm’s sigma level and also reduced the overall environmental impacts. In this research different lean six sigma tools were used at different level/phase like-Value Stream Mapping (VSM), 5S, Kaizen, Cause and effect diagram, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), High level SIPOC, Eco-QFD, Pareto chart, Environmental VSM (current level), life Cycle Impact Assessment, Brainstorming, Design of Experiments, Cost benefit analysis, Design for Environment, Life Cycle Interpretation, Environmental VSM (Future level), 7s practices, Standard operating Procedure (with environmental metrics) and Performance evaluation tools.

Thus, using the framework methodology the user will have a systematic approach for continues improvement. Because, this framework also allows the user identify the process problem(s) and solve them effectively [ 32 ]. There are five stages in this framework. They are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control [ 66 ] ( Figure 7 ).

Lean six sigma framework and methodology. Source: [ 66 ].

LSS Phase 1— Specify value by defining the CTQ issue.

LSS Phase 2— Align the internal operations through measuring the extent of the Problem.

LSS Phase 3— Create flow by identifying constraints in the system.

LSS Phase 4— Create flow through process improvement.

LSS Phase 5— Continuous improvement and control of future processes ( Figure 8 ).

Integrated generic lean six sigma framework (LSSF). Source: [ 45 ].

Hill et al. [ 45 ] outlined the application and measures the effectiveness of the integrated LSS framework through its ability to achieve new and enhanced performance through simultaneously reducing late material calls and reducing and stabilizing Order To Receipt (OTR) times.

2.6 Tools and techniques

Lean and Six Sigma both have their own set of tools and techniques that can enhance a company’s objectives for value and profit enhancement [ 24 ]. Lean six sigma consists of many tools and techniques for continuous improvement such as the Kanban system, 5S, Cause and Effect analysis (C&E), Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and many others [ 35 , 36 ]. According to Brazilian publications, there are six most frequently tools used in LSS applications: “Control Charts”, followed by “Value Stream Mapping”, “DMAIC,” “Kaizen,” “Ishikawa Diagram,” and “Histogram;” and Control chart is the top ranking tool [ 33 ]. DMAIC is a five step method for improving existing process problems with unknown causes. DMAIC define and quantify the problems; identify cause of the problems; implement, verify and maintain the solutions. The DMAIC or DMADV toolkit comprises all the Six Sigma and Lean tools [ 10 ], and the success factors of lean six sigma is their ability to use the toolbox in a systematic and disciplined manner [ 10 ]. Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Design of Experiments (DOE), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Kano Model, etc. statistical tools and techniques reduce variation in any process, reduce costs in manufacturing and services, make savings to the bottom line, increase customer satisfaction, measure defects, improve product quality, and reduce defects to 3.4 parts per million opportunities in an organization [ 35 , 39 ]. Some of these tools have adopted from TQM as Six Sigma in itself has derived from the TQM movement. All the tools and techniques are shown in Table 2 .

Identified lean six sigma tools and techniques.

2.7 Critical success factors

There are many studies have been conducted on critical success factors of LSS. Author has shown critical success factors that were identified by previous researchers. Some of the predominant CSFs are discussed in this section.

Most studies on critical success factors (CSFs) have found senior management involvement and commitment as a CSF in the implementation of lean six sigma projects [ 10 ]. Carleysmith et al. [ 70 ] and Mustapha et al. [ 10 ] noted that senior support as a critical factor that enables the process of LSS implementation. Mustapha et al. [ 10 ] also identified senior management supports as the most vital institutional factors which enable implementation of the LSS framework. Delgado et al. [ 71 ] says that the role of management is influencing the practice and guiding organizational culture to help the organization in closing the gap and proposing ideas for improvement.

According to Mustapha et al. [ 10 ] and Sharma [ 72 ] senior management involvement ensures the benefit of the program to the company by facilitating trust and communication. Senior management motivates to the team members, enables them to use procedures and methods for better quality. They also ensure recognition, which leads to effective and quicker change toward greater innovation [ 10 ]. Mustapha et al. [ 10 ] and Zu et al. [ 73 ] have also considered Management decisions and Organizational infrastructure in the lean critical success factors.

Näslund [ 68 ] frequently mentioned CSFs include the importance of a vision and strategy, top management support and commitment, importance of communication and information, and so forth. According to Mustapha et al. [ 10 ] linking business strategy with continuous improvement strategy is important. A clear and solid combination of LSS with the company’s corporate strategy is the most critical factor for successful implementation.

Kumar et al. [ 74 ] and Mustapha et al. [ 10 ] note that stress on overall program success and short-term successes are important in the initial stages of LSS to ensure members’ interest in the lean project. Apart from these LSS projects also need champion or sponsors who provide direction to the implementation team, find resources and plan for the project [ 10 ]. The readiness of the company is also a critical in lean implementation [ 10 , 68 , 75 ].

For the successful implementation of change effort, different education and training are also most required factors [ 68 , 72 , 74 ]. Education in a systems and process view of organizations answers the questions why the change of the system is needed, how it is supposed to change, and what the benefits will be to the system [ 68 ]. This education can also prepare the organization for change and create the readiness for change [ 68 ].

Customer satisfaction as the central goal of LSS, Cultural change and a transformation of attitudes of the employees [ 10 , 74 ], productive teamwork [ 76 ], LSS working groups [ 74 ], duties and responsibilities of team players [ 74 ], Integration of LSS with the performance management process [ 10 ] and integration of human and process elements of improvement [ 10 , 77 ] are the key element for the effective implementation of LSS programs. Because when these elements are combined with other aspects of LSS, it would produce its successful implementation in an organization.

2.8 Lean six sigma strategy

Lean Six Sigma combines the strategies of Lean and Six Sigma [ 30 ]. It has rapidly established itself as the key business process improvement strategy of choice for many companies [ 45 ]. In general, the approach has been to align Lean Six Sigma deployments with the strategy of the organization [ 46 ]. The strategy usually includes a plan that addresses the high level goals of the organization [ 46 ]. Strategic objectives are then broken down into routine metrics at the operational level. In classic Six Sigma terminology the “Big Y” is broken into “smaller y’s” and plans are put in place to address each “small y” at the operational level. The majority of the companies use this approach in creating a Six Sigma portfolio that helps meet the strategic goals of the organization [ 46 ]. Both Lean and Six Sigma are key business process strategies which are employed by companies to enhance their manufacturing performance [ 78 ]. Table 3 illustrates different deployment approaches that are used along with some of the pros and cons of using the approach [ 46 ].

Lean six sigma deployment strategies. Source: [ 46 ].

Some companies use a top-down LSS deployment approach which is driven by strong governance [ 46 ]. For example: General Electric. This approach requires strong executive commitment and company wide acceptance to change [ 46 ].

The reasons for deploying LSS often include poor financial performance, retreating customer satisfaction, increased rivalry or the existence of a burning problem area [ 46 ]. There is not a single method that fits all Lean Six Sigma deployments. There are various deployment models that are broadly used in the industry today. Figure 9 illustrates a deployment strategy that includes a few concepts presented above.

Strategic goals and objectives in deployment wave. Source: [ 46 ].

The strategy includes a pilot or proof of concept phase and ends with a companywide LSS deployment. In the pilot phase, specific problems are addressed to reveal the usefulness of the methodology and to gain buy-in. larger investments are made in infrastructure, education and training of yellow belts, green belts, black belts and master black belts [ 46 ]. Organizations must be aware of their toolset and enhancements needed to move forward. Many organizations train their Black belts on the theory of constraints and agile techniques to keep their toolset sharpened with a goal of including various manufacturing engineering methodologies. For truly successful LSS, the deployment must be tied into the strategy and be focused on the right parts of the business [ 46 ].

2.9 Assessment of lean six sigma readiness

Employee engagement

Developing organizational readiness

Establishing Lean Six Sigma dashboard

Roadmap for project execution

Infrastructure

Top management commitment and Involvement

Knowledge about Lean Six Sigma benefits

Good leadership

Clear vision and future plans

Proper communication about future benefits expected from project by top management

Experience in Lean Six Sigma deployment and implementation

Lean Six Sigma facilitator Structure

Alignment between the objective of the project and strategic objective of the company

Customer focus

Selection of candidate for Belt training

Project prioritization

2.10 Implementation of lean six sigma in SMEs

Every organization is unique, without a common blueprint that universally applies. Lean Six Sigma implementation refers to a company’s management philosophy and a long-term strategy [ 80 ]. It can be implemented in any SMEs in phases. The aim of implementation of LSS is finding wider application in many different environments. A successful implementation has several factors associated with it. Alkhoraif [ 80 ] has noted that Japanese automobile companies Toyota have a high implementation success rate due to their inflexibility in systematic planned management of employees, resources and equipment.

In a Lean Six Sigma SMEs, people deal with process improvement by conducting improvement projects as well as continuously improving daily routine. This requires an organization which understands the methodology.

According to Lokesh R, There are eight steps to a successful lean six sigma implementation in SMEs. Lokesh R is a certified Black Belt and general manager of process excellence at Firstsource Solutions Ltd. The first step in a Lean Six Sigma implementation is deciding to use the methodology. Once the leadership of a SMEs believes they can benefit from using Lean Six Sigma, they can follow eight steps—Step 1: Create a Burning Platform; Step 2: Put Resources in Place; Step 3: Teach the Methodology; Step 4: Prioritize Activities; Step 5: Establish Ownership; Step 6: Take the Right Measurements; Step 7: Govern the Program; and Step 8: Recognize Contributions ( Figure 10 ).

Successful lean six sigma implementation steps source: Prepared by the author.

Step 1: Create a burning platform : SMEs must have a compelling reason for implementing Lean Six Sigma. For example “We are suffering huge quality losses; they account for more than 45 percent of our costs.” and “Our competitors are gaining our market by 12 percent every quarter.” Company leadership should become familiar with the burning platform, and understand how Lean Six Sigma can address the problems in the platform statement.

Step 2: Put resources in place : Do not hesitate to hire the right resource at right price. This is applicable to any resource, be it employees, material or technology. They must be able to work together as a team, and be empowered to carry out initiatives.

Step 3: Teach the methodology : For a lifetime survival, organizations need to train their team members to be powerful change agents. Yellow Belt, Green Belt and Black Belt training, along with skilled mentors, can help increase organizational awareness. The employees identified for training should share the organization’s vision.

Step 4: Prioritize activities : Organizations must make a priority to: Listen to the customer, Identify critical-to-quality criteria and Ensure Lean Six Sigma efforts are linked to business goals. It is important to learn what to overlook and where to take risks. Activities must be assessed to ensure they are meeting the expectations of the organization’s goals.

Step 5: Establish ownership : It must be clear who owns the Lean Six Sigma initiative. This may involve appointing a committee to find out who is responsible for the entire team. With ownership comes empowerment and a sense of pride, and team members who are more committed, accountable and engaged.

Step 6: Take the right measurements : What cannot be measured cannot be improved. By creating a measurement system, practitioners can determine baseline performance and use the data in objective decision making and analysis of variation. The key for measurement is to get the cost of quality right. Organizations also must find a way to measure process performance to ensure they receive data at a fast pace. Having too many items on a scorecard may shift practitioners’ attention from the critical few metrics. They need to identify and measure the key leading indicators instead of measuring the many lagging indicators.

Step 7: Govern the program : A proper governance structure can help a program sustain momentum. Poor governance or too much governance can lead to the vision falling apart. Proper governance also helps practitioners create a best practice sharing forum, which helps projects to be replicated and can highlight common challenges. Without regularly scheduled, productive meetings or review sessions, the program can veer off course and employees may lack guidance.

Step 8: Recognize contributions : Rewards and recognition play a valuable role in making sure team members remain satisfied in their roles. They can help build enthusiasm for the program from a top-down and grassroots level. Rewards and recognition also can help drive innovation throughout the organization.

2.11 Significant barriers to implement LSS in manufacturing

Insufficient management time to support lean

Not understanding the potential benefits of applying lean

Underestimating employee attitudes/resistance to change

Insufficient workforce skills to implement lean

Backsliding to the old inefficient ways of working

2.12 Significant benefits of LSS implementation in manufacturing

Many organizations have reported significant benefits after the implementation of LSS in manufacturing [ 79 ]. Lean and LSS is not just for manufacturing. It can benefit organizations of any size, in any industry. Because all organizations have problems to solve, all organizations have waste, and all organizations want to increase profits and reduce costs. It benefit to Healthcare, Financial services, Retail and hospitality, Education and Office-based businesses. LSS can also benefit organizations in Agriculture, Energy, Mining, Construction, Consulting, Design, Hotels, Travel and transportation, Law firms, Logistics, Government and Public services.

Increased profits and financial savings;

Increased customer satisfaction;

Reduced cost;

Reduced cycle time;

Improved key performance metrics;

Reduced defects;

Reduction in machine breakdown time;

Reduced inventory;

Improved quality; and

Increased production capacity.

Other identified benefits are identifying different types of waste, development in employee morale toward creative thinking and reduction in workplace accidents as a result of housekeeping procedures.

Many other LSS practitioners, manufacturers, academic researchers have realized common benefits in manufacturing by applying a successful lean methodology are—Greater productivity, Smoother operations, Greater flexibility and responsiveness, Eliminates defects, Improved product quality, Reduced lead time, Increased customer satisfaction, Improved staff morale, Safer working environment and Boosts bottom line.

Ben Ruben et al. [ 61 ] identified that on successful deployment of the LSS framework in an Indian automotive component manufacturing organization, the internal defects was brought down to 6000 ppm from 16,000 ppm and environmental impacts was reduced to 33 Pt from 42 Pt.

Lean and Six Sigma offers a number of substantial benefits to organizations. Most importantly, Lean and Six Sigma Creates efficient processes so you can deliver more products to customers; Increases revenue by streamlining processes; Reduces costs by eliminating waste activities; Develops effective teams by empowering employees, staff morale and job satisfaction.

Singh and Rathi [ 28 ] have recently conducted a review research on LSS and covered papers from 2000 to 2018. They have selected a total of 216 research papers published in different countries on LSS implementation in various manufacturing sector such as automotive, micro small medium enterprises, health care, education, financial sectors etc. and observed major LSS benefits are: reduction in inventory; reduced costs of poor quality; improve customer highest satisfaction; reduced cycle time and lead time; defect free processes; and improvement in productivity.

2.13 Limitations of LSS in manufacturing

The absence of clear guidelines for LSS in early stages of implementation.

Lack of LSS curricula.

Lack of understanding of the usage of LSS tools and techniques.

Lack of a roadmap to be followed—which strategy first?

The limited number of practical applications of LSS integrated framework.

No globally accepted standards for certification.

Lack of expertise.

Thus, LSS practitioners need a clear guide for the direction of the early stages: which strategy should come first, Lean, Six Sigma or LSS, and what tools in the toolbox should be used first.

2.14 Lean and six sigma belts

A Lean and Six Sigma practitioner’s “belt” refers to their level of experience. They may be a white, yellow, green, black, or master black belt. These roughly correspond to their hierarchy in martial arts.

Lean and six sigma master black belt —A highly experienced black belt.

Lean and six sigma black belt —Has expert knowledge of the DMAIC methodology, Lean methods and team leadership.

Lean and six sigma green belt —Has strong knowledge of the DMAIC methodology and Lean methods, but does not have experience with advanced statistical tools.

Lean and six sigma yellow belt —Has completed training in the fundamental concepts and tools of Lean and Six Sigma.

Lean and six sigma white belt —Has completed a small amount of Lean and Six Sigma awareness training.

2.15 Emerging trends in lean six sigma and agenda for future work

The Big Data trend in lean six sigma

Green lean six sigma

Global Warming, Pollution and Lean’s impact

Lean and Six Sigma with environmental sustainability

Lean’s Impact on Resources

Energy Conservation and management by LSS

Factors affecting green lean six sigma

Integration of LSS into educational systems.

Assessment of LSS Readiness using fuzzy logic

Green supply chain management

Research gap 1 (performance measurement system for a particular organizations and processes);

Research gap 2 (application of LSS in developing SMEs);

Research gap 3 (integrated universal methods of manufacturing, frameworks, and models)

2.16 Successful LSS examples/stories in the manufacturing industry

As LSS was implemented world over for improving performances of various processes, developing countries have also started implementing LSS and got significant results in various sectors [ 83 ]. Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology was recently applied to an Auto ancillary conglomerate in India for achieving operational excellence. The root causes for the problem were identified and validated through data based analysis from LSS tool box. The application of LSS methodology resulted in reduction of drilling defects while machining injector bodies and reduced the Defects Per Million Opportunities from 38,000 to 5600. The application of this methodology had a significant financial impact (saving of about INR 1.4 million per annum) on the bottom-line of the company [ 83 ].

All type of manufacturing industry can increase profits, reduce costs and improve collaboration using LSS. For reference, below is Lean Six Sigma success examples in the Manufacturing industry organized systematically ( Table 4 ).

Lean six sigma success examples in the manufacturing industry.

Source: Prepared by author (adopted from [ 84 ]).

2.17 Conclusions and suggestions

Lean Six Sigma is a combination of two powerful process improvement methods: Lean and Six Sigma. It decreases organization’s costs by removing “Waste” from a process and solving the problems caused by a process. Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is an emerging extremely powerful technology which is used to identifying and eliminating waste, improving the performance, efficiency and customer satisfaction to sustain in competitive manufacturing and nonmanufacturing environment. The focus of this chapter was to explore the each aspect of LSS in manufacturing. This systematic comprehensive review aims to synthesize, organize and structure the stock of knowledge relating to Lean Six Sigma and manufacturing. The identified lean six sigma tools and techniques, methodologies, frameworks, success and failure factors and strategies can be effectively used as a roadmap in manufacturing sector. This is also identified that the LSS has been implemented worldwide and in all type of manufacturing organizations for achieving the excellence. They have been successfully achieved their LSS objectives. But there are various challenges and barriers have been identified in the deployment of LSS. Assessments of lean six sigma readiness and implementation steps are most important that every practitioner must be aware. Basics of lean six sigma are discussed to get the root causes by in-depth understanding of the fundamentals of Six Sigma.

To bring lean in the organizations, every manager must be master and implement the eight basics of Lean Six Sigma for manufacturing. They should achieve their goal of satisfying/delighting customers by delivering higher quality service in less time by improving related business processes, eliminating defects and focusing on how the work flowed through the process.

This can be achieved only if the creativity of the people is used in team work on the processes with data and with an understanding of customers and processes. Therefore, the team members should work together to create real solutions for the organization. They should be from the different process areas, and their decisions should be based on data and facts.

Furthermore, for future direction, research and practitioners can be more focused on prioritization of significant barriers as identified in chapter and to tackle them during LSS implementation in manufacturing so that continuous improvement can be easily achieved [ 1 ].

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Business Process Management Journal

ISSN : 1463-7154

Article publication date: 1 June 2015

The purpose of this paper is to explore the most common themes within Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the manufacturing sector, and to identify any gaps in those themes that may be preventing users from getting the most benefit from their LSS strategy. This paper also identifies the gaps in current literature and develops an agenda for future research into LSS themes.

Design/methodology/approach

The following research is based on a review of 37 papers that were published on LSS in the top journals in the field and other specialist journals, from 2000 to 2013.

Many issues have emerged in this paper and important themes have cited which are: benefits, motivation factors, limitations and impeding factors. The analysis of 19 case studies in the manufacturing sector has resulted in significant benefits cited in this paper. However, many gaps and limitations need to be explored in future research as there have been little written on LSS as a holistic strategy for business improvement.

Practical implications

It is important for practitioners to be aware of LSS benefits, limitations and impeding factors before starting the LSS implementation process. Hence, this paper could provide valuable insights to practitioners.

Originality/value

This paper is based on a comprehensive literature review which gives an opportunity to LSS researchers to understand some common themes within LSS in depth. In addition, highlighting many gaps in the current literature and developing an agenda for future research, will save time and effort for readers looking to research topics within LSS.

• Lean Six Sigma
• Future research
• Impeding factors
• Limitations
• Motivation factors

Acknowledgements

This study was sponsored by a grant from King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The first author is a recipient of PhD studentship award from King Abdulaziz University. The funding body has no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

Albliwi, S.A. , Antony, J. and Lim, S.A.h. (2015), "A systematic review of Lean Six Sigma for the manufacturing industry", Business Process Management Journal , Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 665-691. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-03-2014-0019

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Applying lean six sigma methodology to a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility: a case study.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. loss identification, 2.2. loss stratification, 3. project selection.

• Within the packaging area line being reviewed, tablet feed issues are the highest cause of downtime within the short stop category.
• The impact is 335 h of downtime over a 4-month period at an average 20 h per week with an upward trend observed in downtime for tablet feed of which one fifth (72 h) is being contributed by packaging line C80/2.

3.1. Team Creation

3.2. problem solving, 3.3. problem-solving approach, 3.4. coating department, 3.5. refined problem statement, 3.6. analysis of robustness of the tablets.

• It will take 2 years to implement a change as a 2-year stability reference will need to be established for dissolution for regulatory authorities.
• Increased hardness affects dissolution time. As can be seen below in Figure 18 , an increase of 1 KP to the product SKU 10C821 (currently at 10 KP) will mean the tablet product will fail on dissolution testing. An increase to 12 KP ensured over 50% sampled failed batch testing for dissolution of the tablet.

3.7. Benefits Realization and Results

3.8. future value stream map.

• Product backlog into the packaging area reduced by 84%
• The cycle per batch improved by 8.3%.
• The line changeover time reduced by 25%
• The line availability improved by 11%.

3.9. Roll out and Share

4. conclusions.

• The project demonstrated the benefits of implementing change through effective and structured problem solving by eliminating downtime, improving product flow, reducing backlog, eliminating product wastage, increasing productivity and ultimately enhancing customer experience by reducing the backlog for the product to leave the factory.
• This project successfully utilized the Lean Six Sigma methodologies to determine root causes and implement corrective actions. This resulted in eliminating the problems under investigation without negatively impacting manufacturing cost, production time or product quality.

Author Contributions

Institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Byrne, B.; McDermott, O.; Noonan, J. Applying Lean Six Sigma Methodology to a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility: A Case Study. Processes 2021 , 9 , 550. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9030550

Byrne B, McDermott O, Noonan J. Applying Lean Six Sigma Methodology to a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility: A Case Study. Processes . 2021; 9(3):550. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9030550

Byrne, Brian, Olivia McDermott, and John Noonan. 2021. "Applying Lean Six Sigma Methodology to a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility: A Case Study" Processes 9, no. 3: 550. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9030550

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Six-sigma application in tire-manufacturing company: a case study

• Original Research
• Open access
• Published: 20 September 2017
• Volume 14 , pages 511–520, ( 2018 )

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• Vikash Gupta 1 ,
• Rahul Jain 1 ,
• M. L. Meena 1 &
• G. S. Dangayach 1  

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Globalization, advancement of technologies, and increment in the demand of the customer change the way of doing business in the companies. To overcome these barriers, the six-sigma define–measure–analyze–improve–control (DMAIC) method is most popular and useful. This method helps to trim down the wastes and generating the potential ways of improvement in the process as well as service industries. In the current research, the DMAIC method was used for decreasing the process variations of bead splice causing wastage of material. This six-sigma DMAIC research was initiated by problem identification through voice of customer in the define step. The subsequent step constitutes of gathering the specification data of existing tire bead. This step was followed by the analysis and improvement steps, where the six-sigma quality tools such as cause–effect diagram, statistical process control, and substantial analysis of existing system were implemented for root cause identification and reduction in process variation. The process control charts were used for systematic observation and control the process. Utilizing DMAIC methodology, the standard deviation was decreased from 2.17 to 1.69. The process capability index ( C p ) value was enhanced from 1.65 to 2.95 and the process performance capability index ( C pk ) value was enhanced from 0.94 to 2.66. A DMAIC methodology was established that can play a key role for reducing defects in the tire-manufacturing process in India.

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Introduction

Tire has gone through many stages of evolution, since it was developed first time about 100 years ago. In the beginning, solid rubber tires were used mostly for bicycles and horse-driven carts. First, John Dunlop made a tire which consist a tube mounted on a spoked rim. Then, in 20th century with the arrival of motor vehicles, the use of pneumatic tires was started. The manufacturing process of tires begins with selection of rubber as well as other raw materials including special oils, carbon black, etc. These various raw materials are shaped with a homogenized unique mixture of black color with the help of gum. The mixing process is controlled by the computerized systems to insure uniformity of the raw materials. Furthermore, this mixture is processed into the sidewall, treads, or other parts of the tire. The tire bead wire is used as a reinforcement inside the polymer material of the tire. Bead wire is made up of high carbon steel and the main function of bead is to grasp the tire on the rim. The bead wire of functional tire can work at pressures of 30–35 psi (Palit et al. 2015 ). Bead wires help to transfer the load of vehicle to the tire through the rim. Due to the increase demand of tires, maintaining the quality and reliable performance becomes priority. In addition, there is need for maintaining the quality in the era of technological advancements in design of pneumatic tires.

The companies have to analyze, monitor, and make improvements of their existing manufacturing systems to comply with the market competition. Different companies use different methodologies, approaches, and tools for implementing programs for continuous quality improvement. Besides these, each company certainly required to use a proper selection and combination of different approaches, tools, and techniques in its implementation process (Sokovic et al. 2010 ). Variations are generally observed during the manufacturing process of any product. The prime objective of process management or process capability analysis in any organization is to investigate the variability during the manufacturing process of product (Pearn and Chen 1999 ) which helps organization to monitor and measure the potential of process (Wu et al. 2004 ). The process capability is determined when the process is under statistics control (i.e., the sample mean on X-bar and R-chart lies within three-sigma limits and varies in random manner). Sometimes, a process which is under statistical control may not produce the products within the specifications limits. The reason for this problem is the presence of common cause or this can be happened due to lack of centering of process mean (i.e., there is a significant different between mean value and specified nominal value). Process capability procedure uses control charts to detect the common causes of variation until the process not comes under statistical control (Boyles 1994 ; Chen et al. 2009 ). Process capability indices are used in many areas, i.e., continues measure of improvement, prevention of defects in process or products, to determine directions for improvement, etc. (Kane 1986 ). Process capability indices are measures of the process ability for manufacturing a product that meets specifications. Three basic characteristics (i.e., process yield, process expected loss, and process capability indices) had been widely used in measuring process potential and performance. Among various process, capability indices C p and C pk are easily understood and could be straightforwardly applied to the manufacturing industry (Chen et al. 2001 , 2002 ).

Literature review

The quality improvement tools and total quality management (TQM) are still used in modern industry. However, industries tried to incorporate strategic and financial issues with this kind of initiatives (Cagnazzo and Taticchi 2009 ). After inception of TQM in the early 1980s, six sigma came in picture as an element of TQM that could be seen as current state of evolution in quality management. Six sigma is a strategy that helps to identify and eliminate the defects which leads to customer dissatisfaction in tire industries (Gupta et al. 2012 ). An organization working on direction of implementing six sigma into practice or working to build six-sigma concepts with improvement in process performance and customer satisfaction is considered as six-sigma company (Kabir et al. 2013 ). General Electric and Motorola are two well-known companies who implemented six sigma successfully. For successful implementation of six sigma in organization, one must have to understand the barriers and motivating factors of the six sigma (Hekmatpanah et al. 2008 ). Six sigma aimed to achieve perfection in every single process of a company (Narula and Grover 2015 ). The term six sigma means having less than 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO) or a success rate of 99.9997%. In six sigma, the term sigma used to represent the variation of the process (Antony and Banuelas 2002 ). If an industry works as per the concept of three-sigma levels for quality control, this means a success rate of 93% or 66,800 DPMO. Due to less rejections, the six-sigma method was a very demanding concept for quality control, where many organizations still working on three-sigma concept. In this regard, the six sigma is a methodology that enables the companies to review their existing status and guide them in making improvements by analyzing their status via statistical methods (Erbiyik and Saru 2015 ). For most of the industries, sigma is a level that measures the process improvement and thus can be used to measure the defect rate. Six-sigma define–measure–analysis–improve–control (DMAIC) methodology is a highly disciplined approach that helps industrial world to focus on developing perfect products, process, and services. Six sigma identifies and eliminates defects or failures in product features concerned to the customers that affect processes or performance of system.

The literature reveals that most of the waste in developing countries comes from the automobiles (Rathore et al. 2011 ; Govindan et al. 2016 ), and out of the total automobile waste, most of the waste comes in the form of tires. There are several barriers faced during the remanufacturing these wastes (Govindan et al. 2016 ). Around the world, only few studies have been carried out for the tire industries and these studies are focused on analyzing the profitability of car and truck tire remanufacturing (Lebreton and Tuma 2006 ), system design for tire reworking (Sasikumar et al. 2010 ), value analysis for scrap tires in cement industries (de Souza and Márcio de Almeida 2013 ), and analyzing the factors for end-of-life management (Kannan et al. 2014 ). In addition, some researchers proposed methodologies for improving the process in tire-manufacturing companies out of which few industries implemented lean and six-sigma methodologies (Gupta et al. 2012 , 2013 ; Visakh and Aravind 2014 ; Wojtaszak and Biały 2015 ). Other studies also found implementing just in time (Beard and Butler 2000 ) and Kanban (Mukhopadhyay and Shanker 2005 ).

However, numerous studies are available for process improvement in the automobile industries using various methods (Dangayach and Deshmukh 2001a , b ; Chen et al. 2005 ; Dangayach and Deshmukh 2004a , b , 2005 ; Laosirihongthong and Dangayach 2005a , b ; Sharma et al. 2005 ; Radha Krishna and Dangayach 2007 ; Krishna et al. 2008 ; Cakmakci 2009 ; Prabhushankar et al. 2009 ; Mathur et al. 2011 ; Dhinakaran et al. 2012 ; Dangayach and Bhatt 2013 ; Muruganantham et al. 2013 ; Sharma and Rao 2013 ; Kumar and Kumar 2014 ; Venkatesh et al. 2014 ; Surange 2015 ; Bhat et al. 2016 ; Dangayach et al. 2016 ; Jain et al. 2016 ; Gidwani and Dangayach 2017 ; Meena et al. 2017 ).

A review of the literature shows that the DMAIC method is the superb practice for improving the process capability in automobile industries. Hence, the current research concentrates on the use of DMAIC method aimed for process capability enhancement of the bead splice appearing in a tire-manufacturing industry.

Methodology

In this study, the six-sigma DMAIC phases were applied to enhance the process capability (long term) for bead splice. In every phase of DMAIC method, a compound of both techniques qualitative as well as quantitative was utilized. The DMAIC steps followed in the current research are as follows:

In the first phase, the goals were defined to improve the current process. The most critical goals were acquired using the voice of customer (VOC) method. These goals would be helpful for the betterment of the company. In addition, the goals will direct to bring down the defect level and increase output for a specific process.

Without measuring the performance attributes, the process cannot be improved. Therefore, the ultimate target of measure phase was to establish a good measurement system to measure the process performance. Process capability index C pk was selected to measure the process performance. To compute the process capability index, observations of bead splice variation were taken and MINITAB (version 16.0) was used for analysis.

In the analyze phase, the process was analyzed to identify possible ways of bridging the gaps between the present quality performance of the process and the goal defined. In addition, it was started by determining the existing performance statistics obtained with the help of six-sigma quality tools (process capability index). The further analysis of these data was done for finding root cause of the problem using Ishikawa diagram.

In improvement phase, the alternative ways were searched creatively to do things better and faster at low cost. Different approaches (i.e., project management, other planning and management tools, etc.) were used to establish the new approach and statistical methods were proposed for continuous improvement.

The improvement gained through the previous steps needs to be maintained for continuous success of the organization. Control phase was used to maintain these improvements in process. The new process/improved process was proposed for sustaining the quality control in the organization.

Company profile

Company A was the leading Indian tire manufacturing who started exclusive branded outlets of truck tires. Company started its first manufacturing plant at Perambra, Kerala state of India in the year 1977. Furthermore, the company started its second manufacturing plant in Limda, Gujarat. Company expanded its business and established third plant at Kalamassery, Kerala in year 1995, where premier-type tires are produced. Then, company established a special tubes plant in the year 1996 at Ranjangoan, Maharashtra. Company increased its capacity to produce exclusive radial tires at Limda, Gujarat plant in the year 2000. In year 2004, company initiated production of high-speed rated tubeless radial tires for passenger cars.

Implementation of DMAIC methodology

Problem definition.

In the current research, the problem was identified on the basis of VOC data. The customer complaints on wastage of material due to variation in the bead splice of a particular product were recorded. Table  1 shows the specification of the product (tire).

This wastage increases financial loss to the organization. Therefore, the problem is variations in the bead splice which has to be reduced to minimize the wastages.

Establishment of measures

Initially, the normality test for the collected data was performed and Fig.  1 shows the normal distribution curve for the bead splice data. After passing the normality test, process capability index C pk was calculated to measure the present process performance using the observations of bead splice variation, which is presented in Table  2 .

Normality test of bead splice

These data were used to create an overall baseline for the system to assess its performance based on the necessary improvement areas established in the define phase. Figure  2 shows that the value of process capability index C pk is 0.94 which is less than 1; hence, the process is not capable.

Process capability diagram of bead splice: before improvement

Data analysis

In this phase, the data were analyzed and control charts were constructed. Figure  3 shows the X-bar and R-chart for the existing data. From the figure, it is clear that the few points are outside the lower control limit; however, the process is in statistical control.

X- and R-bar chart of present data

Identification of root cause

The Ishikawa diagram was used for finding the root cause of the problem, which is shown in Fig.  4 . The identified causes of the problem are as follows:

Ishikawa diagram

First cause of the problem was bead splice setting on higher side caused by slippage of bead tape from gripper. The slippage of bead tape from gripper was generated due to worn out of the griper key.

Second cause was variation in the advancer setting caused due to change in skill of worker. This man-to-man variation was caused due to lack of the standard setup guidelines available.

The third cause was related to the frequency of sensor setting. Setting of sensor is required frequently as the former diameter changes. However, due to non-availability of guideline, sensor setting could not change frequently.

The last cause was identified that the workers were not using the measuring tape.

After finding the root causes, the corrective actions were taken, which are presented in Table  3 . After implementing these corrective actions, again observations were taken to measure the process performance.

The collected data are shown in Table  4 and run chart for bead splice variation was drawn for the observations taken before and after corrective actions (Fig.  5 ). From Fig.  5 , it is clear that variability in the process reduced drastically.

Run chart for bead splice

The process capability index was also computed after implementing corrective actions. Figure  6 shows that after improvement in process, the capability index C pk value is improved to 2.66 which shows that process is capable.

Process capability diagram of bead splice: after improvement

To maintain the achieved process performance of the six-sigma quality level, the above four steps of DMAIC methodology must be applied periodically.

Conclusion and Discussion

In this research, DMAIC approach was implemented for process improvement in tire industry. First, process capability index C pk of the current process was computed which was found less than 1. Therefore, to improve the value of process performance, the root causes of problem were determined with the help of cause and effect diagram. In addition, substantial analysis of existing system was done for finding the solution of root cause identified. Finally, in the improve phase, statistical analysis was done for identifying the process capability index value which was improved after taking corrective actions. From outcomes of the study, it can be concluded that process performance of a tire-manufacturing plant can be improved significantly by implementing six-sigma DMAIC methodology.

Cause and effect diagram was also used in an Indian study by Gupta et al. ( 2012 ), although no manufacturing aspects were discussed. One more exploratory research was implemented for finding the enablers for successful implementation of lean tools in radial tire-manufacturing company in India (Gupta et al. 2013 ); however, no manufacturing aspects were discussed in this study also. In the current study, six-sigma DMAIC method is used for improving the process performance.

The main aim of this study was to improve the process capability index of the bead splice, which is achieved by increasing the value of process capability index up to 2.66. This study is based on six-sigma DMAIC quality methodology which provides information about the decision-making power for particular type of problem and the most significant tool for improvement of that type of problem in which data used must come from a stable process (under statistical control: Chen et al. 2017 ).

Six sigma is a standard of measurement of the product or process quality, also having a caliber for improvement in efficiency and excellence of process. The main aim of implementing six-sigma approach is delivering world-class quality standards of product and service while removing all internal as well as external defects at the lowest possible cost. For proper and successful implementation of a six-sigma project, organization must have the required resources, the guidance to the employees by top management, and leadership of top management. The case company follows several quality standards, which have research and development cell, and good coordination system for managing the issue faced on shop floor. Hence, the corrective actions were implemented successfully.

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The corresponding author grateful to the all authors for their suggestions at every stage of this study. The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their valuable comments, which has been improved the contents and format of this paper.

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Gupta, V., Jain, R., Meena, M.L. et al. Six-sigma application in tire-manufacturing company: a case study. J Ind Eng Int 14 , 511–520 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40092-017-0234-6

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